There is no truth to the rumor that it was a member of the Giants who last week swiped the playbook of Eagles linebacker Shawn Barber. In fact, there wasn’t even a rumor that the Giants were involved. But there certainly is a strong sense that to experience success this season, the Giants will have to resort to unorthodox measures.

With so many familiar players leaving and not much in the way of established talent arriving, the Giants have the look and feel of a team in transition. Jim Fassel today gets the first widespread look at what he’s got (and what he’s missing) with the start of a three-day minicamp at Giants Stadium.

Young and old will be on hand, meaning first-round pick Jeremy Shockey gets a chance to use his tight-end skills against linebacker Micheal Barrow and safety Shawn Williams.

It also means that Chris Bober and rookie Jeff Hatch get to line up at left tackle, and one of the two must show they’re ready for the demanding job, or else the Giants go to Plan B: shifting Luke Petitgout over from right tackle, a move the team does not want to make. It also means that Michael Strahan and Tiki Barber, who engaged in verbal warfare this offseason, get a chance to knock heads on the field, although there can’t be too much damage inflicted with no one wearing shoulder pads.

Rookies and veterans will be on hand for this mandatory camp. Two starters, center Dusty Zeigler (knee) and receiver Ike Hilliard (toe), are recovering from surgery and both will watch the two-a-day practices from the side.

“They haven’t been cleared yet,” said Neil Schwartz, the agent for both Zeigler and Hilliard. “Both are going to get the green light by training camp.”

None of the seven draft picks is signed and doesn’t figure to be until July.

“I’d do it tomorrow if I could,” GM Ernie Accorsi said, “but they’ll get done. I’m not worried about it.”

What most likely won’t get done are new deals for Strahan and Kerry Collins, who are both entering the final year on their contracts and together eat up more than $20 million on the $71.1M salary cap. There’s a better chance the Giants work something out with Collins.